MITOU KAIGI 2021 to be Held by Video Conference

1. Outline

The IPA has been working on the MITOU program to discover and foster outstanding human resources with outstanding IT ability for 21 years since FY2000, and has fostered over about 1,700 talented people called “MITOU human resources” as graduates of the program. MITOU human resources have made contributions to many fields in society and over 270 of them have started their own businesses or commercialized their own inventions.

The MITOU KAIGI conference is an event aiming to further enrich and develop the program. Against the backdrop of the worldwide advancement of industrial and technological innovations, such as IoT, artificial intelligence and robots, in all industrial fields, METI recognizes the importance of raising public awareness regarding the potential of innovations brought about by MITOU human resources in a wide range of fields, and to this end, it has been holding the conference every March 10, or MITOU day, to attract public attention since 2015.

MITOU KAIGI 2021 this year will be broadcast by video conference using the Niconico Live, Facebook Live and YouTube Live online programs.

2. Date and venue

Date and time: March 10 (Wed.), 2021; from 15:00 to 18:00

3. Organizers and co-organizer

Organizers

IPA and Mitou Foundation

Co-organizer

 METI

4. Program (tentative)

Speeches

• Mr. Tomita Tatsuo, Chairman, IPA
• Dr. Takeuchi Ikuo, MITOU Overall Project Manager (Emeritus Professor, the University of Tokyo)
• METI

Keynote speech

Keynote speech by a MITOU Overall Project Manager

Dr. Natsuno Takeshi, MITOU Overall Project Manager
(Guest Professor, Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University)

Special lecture

Dr. Ishiguro Hiroshi, Project Manager, MITOU Advanced Program
(Professor, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University; Visiting Director, Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International)

Creators’ talks

Short presentations by graduates of the MITOU Program

1. Mr. Nagai Hirotomo
   (President, Water Cell Inc.; graduate of the FY2008 MITOU Program)
   Title: Agri-note for realizing DX in agriculture

2. Dr. Nakamura Hiromi
   (Project Associate Professor, Rekimoto Laboratory, Applied Computer Science Course, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, the University of Tokyo; graduate of the FY2010 MITOU Program)
   Title: Electricity as a new spice for the 21st century

3. Mr. Fujimoto Minoru
   (President and CEO, mplusplus Co., Ltd.; graduate of the FY2009 MITOU Program)
   Title: Creation of new performances using LEDs

4. Mr. Seki Haruyuki
   (Representative Director, Code for Japan; graduate of the FY2009 MITOU Program)
   Title: Sangharama, bazaar and open government

Panel discussion

 Panel discussion between MITOU Project Managers and graduates of the MITOU Program

• Facilitator
  Dr. Takeshi Natsuno, MITOU Overall Project Manager
  (Guest Professor, Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University)

• Panelists:
  Dr. Ishiguro Hiroshi, Project Manager, MITOU Advanced Program
  (Professor, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University; Visiting Director, Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International)
  Mr. Seki Haruyuki
  (Representative Director, Code for Japan; graduate of the FY2009 MITOU Program)
  Mr. Fujimoto Minoru
  (President and CEO, mplusplus Co., Ltd.; graduate of the FY2009 MITOU Program)

5. How to view the conference

• MITOU KAIGI 2021 will be broadcast using the Niconico Live, Facebook Live and YouTube Live online streaming programs. For details of the conference, visit the IPA website below.

• IPA website

Reference: Outline of the MITOU Program

• The IPA has been working on the MITOU program since FY2000 to discover and foster outstanding individuals who have sufficiently unique ideas and the skills to create innovations through the full utilization of IT and who are able to utilize these innovations.

• The MITOU Program is characterized by the point that project managers (PM) or experts who lead the frontline in the industrial world and have outstanding talent and achievements themselves will examine applicants for the program based on their unique perspectives and directly mentor successful applicants.

• Under the MITOU Program, three initiatives have been advancing: the “Exploratory IT Human Resources Project” aiming to discover and foster young, talented IT human resources with unique ideas and outstanding ability, the “MITOU Advanced Program” aiming to discover and foster IT human resources that intend to contribute to creating new businesses or solving social challenges through innovative ideas and other means, and the “MITOU Target Program” aiming to foster human resources that are expertized in cutting-edge IT and engaging in the fields of basic technologies and cross-sectoral technological innovations by focusing on the fields of advanced technologies in which next-generation IT is used to dramatically change society.

Division in Charge

IT Innovation Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau